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Finding the voice to speak "The Woman Warrior" consists of five stories which focuses on five women: Kingston's long-dead aunt, "No-Name Woman"; a mythical female warrior, Fa Mu Lan; Kingston's mother, Brave Orchid; Kingston's aunt, Moon Orchid; and finally Kingston herself. Based on her mother's stories, which are integrated with Kingston's imagination, "The Woman Warrior" reveals her past childhood experiences, and explores her struggle to reconcile her Chinese heritage with her American identity. It is only at the very end that Kingston realizes that, through her writing, she can express her concern about the unfairness toward the voiceless Chinese women. In the beginning of the first chapter, Kingston has made the theme of the book very clear: Chinese women are voiceless. It is notably ironic that the story begins with something that is supposed not to be said: her unnamed dead aunt: "`You must not tell anybody about that', said my mother." (1) From a Chinese's perspective, adultery is an awful thing that should not be mentioned because it is considered a shame of the family. Any woman who commits adultery must be her fault. However, Kingston does not agree on that. In fact, she even shows sympathy to her aunt. "The [aunt's] real punishment was not the raid swiftly inflicted by the villagers, but the family's deliberately forgetting her. . . . My aunt haunts me--her ghost drawn to me because now, after fifty years of neglect, I alone devote pages of paper to her." She felt that her aunt who became pregnant other than her husband might only was a mistake. Her tragedy happened was due to the Chinese tradition. Kingston believes that Chinese women become voiceless in a traditional, male dominated Chinese society is not be... ... middle of paper ... ...sell people. Can't you take a joke? You can't even tell a joke from real life." This clearly shows that how Kingston struggles in finding her voice due to her misunderstanding of her mother's saying. Although it takes a long while for Kingston to find her own voice, she finally realizes that the power to gain words in order to show her identity actually comes from her mother and also her identity as a Chinese ancestor. By finally understand all those stories and myths given by her mother, Kingston eventually begins to tell story about herself. This shows that she begins able to live harmoniously, in both Chinese and American cultures. In the end, talking her past through writing has become a way for her to cure her silence, and to retain her identity as the true first American Chinese in her family. I have consulted writing tutor in the writing workshop.
This is evident in the persistence of elderly characters, such as Grandmother Poh-Poh, who instigate the old Chinese culture to avoid the younger children from following different traditions. As well, the Chinese Canadians look to the Vancouver heritage community known as Chinatown to maintain their identity using on their historical past, beliefs, and traditions. The novel uniquely “encodes stories about their origins, its inhabitants, and the broader society in which they are set,” (S. Source 1) to teach for future generations. In conclusion, this influential novel discusses the ability for many characters to sustain one sole
Imagination is a quality that everyone has, but only some are capable of using. Maxine Hong Kingston wrote “No Name Woman” using a great deal of her imagination. She uses this imagination to give a story to a person whose name has been forgotten. A person whose entire life was erased from the family’s history. Her story was not written to amuse or entertain, but rather to share her aunts’ story, a story that no one else would ever share. The use of imagination in Kingston’s creative nonfiction is the foundation of the story. It fills the gaps of reality while creating a perfect path to show respect to Kingston’s aunt, and simultaneously explains her disagreement with the women in her culture.
Since people who have different identities view the American Dream in a variety of perspectives, individuals need to find identities in order to have a deep understanding of obstacles they will face and voices they want. In The Woman Warrior, Maxing Hong Kingston, a Chinese American, struggles to find her identity which both the traditional Chinese culture and the American culture have effects on. However, in The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros clearly identifies herself as a Hispanic woman, and pivots to move up economically and socially to speak for her race. Even though both Kingston and Cisneros look for meanings of their identities, they have different approaches of reaching the full understanding.
The story tells that the girl did not speak for three years in school. During the three years, she covered her school art paintings with black paint. She painted black over houses and flowers and suns and she made a layer of chalk on top when she drew on the blackboard. This black paint shows the symbolism of wanting to cover up and hide herself from the challenges of her new life. The artwork represented her inner self and the black the covering she felt was necessary in her current world. Note that the blindness and the darkness were like the artwork she drew (her true self) and painted over each with black paint. She imagined pulling the curtain or opening the door to what was beneath. Kingston described fear feeling and strong emotions through the painting. It was deep, dark and helpfulness. To the Americans at school who only saw the black, she was being stubborn, depressed, psychotic maybe, or developmentally challenged. Moreover, in the American school, she did not know that she was supposed to talk. When she realised that she had to talk in school to pass kindergarten she became more miserable. Reading out loud was easier because she didn’t have to make up the words. Simple words like “I” were hard because in Chinese “I” had seven strokes but only 3 strokes in English. It was a hard concept to understand. She was punished for not saying them right which added to her insecurities. The girl liked the Negro students because they treated her well and thought she spoke well. They protected her from mean Japanese kids who hit her and chased her and called her
Kingston’s mother takes many different approaches to reach out to her daughter and explain how important it is to remain abstinent. First, she tells the story of the “No Name Woman”, who is Maxine’s forgotten aunt, “’ Now that you have started to menstruate, what happened to her can happen to you. Don’t humiliate us. You wouldn’t like to be forgotten as if you had never been born”’ (5), said Maxine’s mother. Kingston’s aunt was murdered for being involved in this situation. The shame of what Kingston’s aunt brought to the family led them to forget about her. This particular talk-story is a cautionary tale to deter Kingston from having premarital sex and to instill in her fear of death and humiliation if she violates the lesson her mother explained to her. Kingston is able to get pregnant but with the lecture her mother advises her with keeps her obedient. Brave Orchid tells her this story to open her eyes to the ways of Chinese culture. The entire family is affected by one’s actions. She says, “‘Don’t humiliate us’” (5) because the whole village knew about the pregnant aunt and ravaged the family’s land and home because of it. Maxine tries asking her mother in-depth questions about this situation, but her m...
Similarly, Wong also grew up in America with a traditional Chinese mother. In contrast, Wong’s upbringing involves her mother forcing her into attending two different schools. After her American school day, Wong continues on with Chinese school to learn both cultures. Her mother felt it was her duty to “[. . .] learn the language of [her] heritage” (Wong 144). This puts a burden on Wong as she starts to despise the Chinese culture.
...in her essay “No Name Woman”. The Chinese tradition of story telling is kept by Kingston in her books. Becoming Americanized allowed these women the freedom to show their rebellious side and make their own choices. Rebelling against the ideals of their culture but at the same time preserving some of the heritage they grew up with. Both woman overcame many obstacles and broke free of old cultural ways which allowed them an identity in a new culture. But most importantly they were able to find identity while preserving cultural heritage.
The book is organized into four sections, two devoted to the mothers and two devoted to the daughters, with the exception of June. The first section, logically, is about the mothers' childhoods in China, the period of time during which their personalities were molded, giving the reader a better sense of their "true" selves, since later in the book the daughters view their mothers in a different and unflattering light. Tan does this so the reader can see the stories behind both sides and so as not to judge either side unfairly. This section, titled Feathers From a Thousand Li Away, is aptly named, since it describes the heritage of the mothers in China, a legacy that they wished to bestow on their daughters, as the little story in the beginning signifies. For many years, the mothers did not tell their daughters their stories until they were sure that their wayward offspring would listen, and by then, it is almost too late to make them understand their heritage that their mothers left behind, long ago, when they left China.
Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior discusses her and her mother Brave Orchid's relationship. On the surface, the two of them seem very different however when one looks below the surface they are very similar. An example of how they superficially seem different is the incident at the drug store when Kingston is mortified at what her mother makes her do. Yet, the ways that they act towards others and themselves exemplifies their similarities at a deeper level. Kingston gains many things from her mother and becomes who she is because of Brave Orchid, "Rather than denying or suppressing the deeply embedded ambivalence her mother arouses in her, Kingston unrelentingly evokes the powerful presence of her mother, arduously and often painfully exploring her difficulties in identifying with and yet separating from her" (Quinby, 136). Throughout Maxine Hong Kingston's autobiography Kingston disapproves of numerous of her mother's qualities however begins to behave in the same manner.
Although she got pregnant by someone other than her husband they did not look at the good and joyful moments the child could bring. Having a baby can be stressful, especially being that the village was not doing so great. The baby could have brought guilt, anger, depression, and loneliness to the aunt, family, and village lifestyle because having a baby from someone other than your husband was a disgrace to the village, based on the orientalism of women. Society expected the women to do certain things in the village and to behave a particular way. The author suggests that if her aunt got raped and the rapist was not different from her husband by exploiting "The other man was not, after all, much different from her husband. They both gave orders; she followed. ‘If you tell your family, I 'll beat you. I 'll kill you. Be, here again, next week." In her first version of the story, she says her aunt was a rape victim because "women in the old China did not choose with who they had sex with." She vilifies not only the rapist but all the village men because, she asserts, they victimized women as a rule. The Chinese culture erred the aunt because of her keeping silent, but her fear had to constant and inescapable. This made matters worse because the village was very small and the rapist could have been someone who the aunt dealt with on a daily basis. Maxine suggests that "he may have been a vendor
Kingston uses the story of her aunt to show the gender roles in China. Women had to take and respect gender roles that they were given. Women roles they had to follow were getting married, obey men, be a mother, and provide food. Women had to get married. Kingston states, “When the family found a young man in the next village to be her husband…she would be the first wife, an advantage secure now” (623). This quote shows how women had to get married, which is a role women in China had to follow. Moreover, marriage is a very important step in women lives. The marriage of a couple in the village where Kingston’s aunt lived was very important because any thing an individual would do would affect the village and create social disorder. Men dominated women physically and mentally. In paragraph eighteen, “they both gav...
The first time Kingston had to speak English in kindergarten was the moment silence infiltrated her world. Simple dialogue such as “hello” or asking for directions was hell for her because people usually couldn’t hear her the first time she asked, and her voice became weaker every time she tried to repeat the question (422). No matter what, speaking English just shattered her self-esteem.
June-May fulfills her mother’s name and life goal, her long-cherished wish. She finally meets her twin sisters and in an essence fulfills and reunites her mother with her daughter through her. For when they are all together they are one; they are their mother. It is here that June-May fulfills the family portion of her Chinese culture of family. In addition, she fully embraces herself as Chinese. She realizes that family is made out of love and that family is the key to being Chinese. “And now I also see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood.” (Tan 159). Finally, her mother’s life burden is lifted and June-May’s doubts of being Chinese are set aside or as she says “After all these years, it can finally be let go,” (Tan 159).
She trains to become a warrior from the time she is seven years old, through the help of others. She then leads an army of men-even pretending to be a man herself- against the forces of a corrupt emperor. Although she is a women, she is stronger than more than half the men in the army. She is able to lead an entire army and protect them, as well. After the battle is over, she returns to be a mother and wife. This shows precisely how strong women really are and the problems they can overcome. The story of Fa Mu Lan is extremely similar to Kingston’s own life in America, where she can hardly stand up to her many racist and sexist bosses. One thing I realized from reading this chapter is that a women’s strongest weapon is her words. Many of the older women also defend the men. Because of how long the belief of sexism has existed, many women think it’s normal for men to treat women the way they they do. It’s not until the new generation is born, that changes are made. they start to ask questions, and learn right from wrong. They change the society in ways never imagined before. Without any form of violence, women have changed the world. It is, as The Washington Post said, “Intense, fierce and disturbing…strange, sometimes savagely terrifying and, in the literal sense, wonderful story.” The story has a real chilling effect but teaches a great lesson which is that no one, men and/or women, should be treated
Thus, when China found herself pregnant, her reaction was much the same as the aunt which was to not “[say] anything” and certainly to not “discuss it” (Kingston